School Board Candidate:
(Editor’s note: This story could not be processed in time to be published in the Sept. 20 Newsleaders, in which there were stories about the other five school-board candidates. Those five are incumbents Tricia Meling and Matt Moehlre and new contenders Michael Gruber, Michael Ringstad and Chelsea Thielen.)
by Dennis Dalman
If elected to a seat on the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board, Aaron Alexander would like to bring what he calls a “needed change to the board.”
Alexander is one of six candidates vying for three seats on the school board.
“I have two children in the school district and believe I can bring a needed change to the board,” said Alexander when asked why he decided to file for the Nov. 5 election.
A corrections officer, he has lived in Sartell for 20 years.
Alexander served in the U.S. Army for eight years where he learned a lot about teamwork and discipline, qualities he said he believes would help him be an effective board member. He also served on his local union’s board both as an E-Board member and as the union’s secretary.
Alexander said a strong supportive community and a caring staff are the school district’s biggest strengths.
A weakness of the district that should be improved, he said, is “divided leadership” as well as a “lost academic focus.”
If elected, Alexander listed priorities he would like to help develop:
“I would like to look over and improve our bullying policy and make sure it’s enforced and all kids feel welcomed and safe in all of our buildings,” he said. “Another topic to be discussed would be the cell-phone policy for our students. I would like to continue working on and improving the new high school’s football field and a functioning HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system for our schools.”
